- [Announcer] Funding for this program is provided in part by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota, (bright music) (lively music) - "R-Town, the show about Rochester," learns about a new initiative from the Olmsted County Health Services, and we catch up with 125 Live ahead of the holiday season.

We check out the new Boundless Space and Activity Center and get a rundown of community events.

All that coming up next on "R-Town, the show about Rochester."

(lively music) (lively music continues) - [Announcer] Coming to you from 125 Live in Rochester, Minnesota, "R-Town."

(lively music) - We are joined today by Ken Baerg, director of operations at 125 Live.

Here to tell us more about the food drive and ways to get involved as we head into this holiday season of giving.

Welcome back to "R-Town," Ken.

- All right, thanks for having me.

- It's always a pleasure to be here with you.

- [Ken] Well, wonderful.

- And also in this space that we get to host this show in.

Can you tell us a little bit about the food drive and what we can expect?

- Perfect.

So we've already got amazing community partners and the response that we've gotten from just everyone in Rochester and their surrounding areas as far as making donations and assisting us with maintaining our pantry that we're having open every single day.

We know that the holidays hit a little harder, and expectations are just a little higher, and we're just asking and hoping that anyone out there who has the ability and willingness to spare non-perishable items or other items can be donated directly to 125 Live, with all those items being available for anyone in need.

You don't have to be a 125 Live member to utilize the pantry.

A sizable portion of those who use it, we have well over about 1,500 people a month that are coming in and utilizing it.

Young families, individuals, yes, some of our members as well, but just a huge component of our population just could use a little bit of help, as especially we get in the holidays, and obviously, there's, you know, your hot meal, Thanksgiving, we have Christmas.

We really wanna make sure that we make it as much of a positive experience and a great season for everyone that we can.

And we know that everybody's very busy, but we have several events going on between now and then that are given the opportunity for the community to come in, make some donations.

I mean, we even have our December 8th holiday, you know, craft sale here, that we're trying to encourage people to come in.

You can either do some shopping or make your donations for our non-perishables or other donations to make sure that the pantry is well-stocked and able to help anyone who might need some assistance this year.

- Excellent.

It's so exciting that there is that resource here in the community.

As people are thinking about, you know, what they could be giving you, you mentioned non-perishable items, are there certain types of things that people should be thinking about?

You know, if you're there, you're in the grocery aisle, pick up an extra what?

- One of the big things for us is ready, almost ready-to-eat meals or things that can be cooked very simply.

Numerous individuals that we have, you know, coming in for older adults that utilize the service, it's slightly more complicated to do the food preparation.

So I mean, although we do receive a lot of great fresh produce, especially at the end of the growing season, a lot of local gardeners kind of brought in a lot of stuff, it's an amazing experience, it helped out a lot of people, but when we get into it, a lot of those individuals may have issues with osteoarthritis or issues with their hands opening and doing any of the food preparation required.

So simple, ready-to-heat meals are always very well appreciated here.

- Excellent.

Are you collecting other things during the holiday season outside of the food drive?

- Well, one of the things is one of, we really do appreciate, anytime there's a monetary donation and it can be earmarked towards any of the services at 125 Live anyone would like to support, but related to the pantry, we utilize that into an account so that anytime that we're having a shortcoming on something, we're able to actually go out, make a wholesale purchase, and then stock the pantry ourselves with items that we know the individuals are gonna need, especially certain items that aren't very common for donations, such as meat products, meat, eggs, and other fresh produce.

- Excellent.

You mentioned that you don't have to be a member here at 125 Live to use the food pantry.

Can you just talk a little bit about these hours, how people can come in, and kind of what that experience might be like for someone who's coming to the food pantry?

- Definitely, so one of the things is, during the week, one p.m., we have the pantry available and open.

All you have to do is come through our main entrance on the upper level of our facility.

We have a guest book.

We encourage people just to sign in, and you basically kind of state as to why you're here.

Just allows our staff to know that if you're lost, it's your first time, they give you a little extra help finding your way down to the pantry.

Once you get down there, we are entirely staffed by volunteers in that location.

The volunteers are gonna help you, acclimate you to some of the services, how much that you're allowed to take of certain items, and kind of help you get in and out, and pay easy and quick and simple.

- Excellent.

As we're wrapping up here, how can people continue to stay in touch with what's going on at 125 Live, with the food pantry and beyond?

- Well, obviously, our website at 125LiveMN.org.

We're reasonably active on several social media platforms, but we also do a newsletter.

So if anyone's ever interested in what's coming up each week at a time, stop into our main desk, you can sign up for that newsletter, and every Sunday afternoon, it gets delivered, and you can know what's going on in our facility, different opportunities for members and non-members, things that are free and open to the public as well.

- Wonderful, thank you so much for joining us again, Ken, and thank you for all you do here at 125 Live.

- Great, thank you so much for having me.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) - Be sure to stick around.

We have much more coming your way on "R-Town."

We head over to Boundless Playspace for some indoor fun as the temps drop, and we also learn about a new donor milk program launched by Olmsted County, but up first, we have ourselves a delicious feast at a local food and trade show in this week's "R-Culture" segment.

- [Director] Good, cut.

(bright music) - So as a group, a leadership group, at SEMCIL, we found that Rochester doesn't have a lot of indoor play spaces for winter activities for kids, and many that we have aren't accessible for individuals with disabilities.

Our agency, we serve individuals with disabilities, and inclusivity and accessibility is really important to us.

So we wanted to create a place where individuals with disabilities and without, could play together year-round.

We have a large play structure that is two levels, and we incorporated ramping, so that individuals who use wheels, maybe a wheelchair or a walker or something like that, could access the areas of the play structure.

We also have toddler play areas, early walkers, a musical area.

We have a turf area for soccer balls and football, and we also have a full-size gym that can house volleyball, basketball, dodge ball, other types of gym activities.

We also have what we call our cozy corner.

It's kind of a small room that can be used for quiet activities.

So if the play area is overstimulating to kids, there's a room that has quiet play, like books and bean bags and cars and Legos, things like that.

(upbeat music) So in choosing playground equipment, we chose both slides that are made of plastic but also metal because the plastic slides create static for individuals with cochlear implants.

Probably about half of them also have a transfer bench attached to the slide so that individuals can have a chance to slide over and transfer back into their mobility device if they need to, while allowing access to the slide.

We have an accessible seesaw that individuals can roll on in their wheelchair or their walker or whatever their mobility device may be, from the play structure onto the seesaw, so that individuals can seesaw together, and it's called the We Sway.

We also have an accessible merry-go-round that is roll-on for individuals who have a mobility device, so that they can merry-go-round with everybody.

We also have another merry-go-round that has recessed seating, so individuals who may need to transfer and sit as they go around can merry-go-round with individuals who can maybe hang on or things like that.

(bright music) We really wanted to include pieces that individuals could play together, disability or not.

We have a communication board here for individuals who are nonverbal so that they can communicate with their peers or their caregiver about some of their needs.

We have daily, monthly, and annual options for individuals to enjoy Boundless.

Individuals can book playtime.

Coming this year, in the new year, we anticipate hosting birthday parties and things like that.

So please check our website for more information.

There's no age limit to playing at Boundless.

We have a full gym that I expect will probably draw in some older kids, teenagers, adults to play basketball, volleyball.

We have a toddler area that kind of serves those preschool, early walker kind of areas.

Our main play structure is rated 5 to 12, but I imagine that, you know, there will be some variety in ages there.

(upbeat music) It's a heartwarming opportunity for a lot of people, where this does not exist anywhere else.

So it feels good to be part of a group where this came from ideas, to paper, to a hole in the ground, to this building.

It's been really rewarding to be a part of this project.

(upbeat music) - [Announcer] For more information about this story and other "R-Town" features, connect with us on Facebook, Twitter at KSMQ #RTown or KSMQ.org/RTown.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) (lively music) - Hi, this is Nicole Nfonoyim-Hara, in for Danielle Teal with the "R-Town Spotlight."

I'm so excited to be joined today by Lori Banks of EA Therapeutic Health Services.

Welcome to "R-Town."

- Thank you.

- So, you are a physical therapy assistant dedicated to recovery and healing.

Can you tell us a little bit about what you do with EA Health Services?

- Yes, EA Therapeutic Health Services is a nonprofit.

We provide physical therapy along with adaptive fitness.

So we work with clients with lifelong conditions, more neurological and medically complex.

We pretty much individualize their goals of what they want to achieve, so they're person-centered, and we develop a plan for them to carry out lifelong for health and wellness.

- That's fantastic.

It sounds really individualized and personal, as you said.

You have this lovely tagline on the website that says, "We strive to reimagine therapy and fitness."

How are you working to do that?

- So we just work outside the insurance models.

So most physical therapy practices, whether it's inpatient or home health or even outpatients, they all do insurance-based.

We go beyond that model, where we have grant funds, scholarships, free and reduced services to provide that lifelong care.

So most places will stop, unfortunately, services once they meet their deductible or cap or make it not affordable for clients that need it.

And so, at EA, we provide that, eliminate that barrier and provide that lifelong care.

- I'm sure that's life-changing, lifelong care to have that access.

- It is very humbling, and to work with wonderful staff every day, but also the clients that do come in.

- And you see clients from across sort of ages and backgrounds.

Can you tell us a little bit about some of those sort of age-based programs that you have?

- Yeah, we do child services with physical therapy, and we also have a recreation therapy program, and so that is from birth all the way up to 18, and teens too is 13 to 18 as well, so we do some services with them.

Adults is R-19 to R-35, and then we go all the way up to 99.

So we see a variety.

- Excellent.

Tell me a little bit about the gym, your gym space.

- Our gym is 5,000 square feet, and it is, got state-of-the-art equipment.

So some of the clients we see have spinal cords or muscular dystrophy.

So it's accessible to all levels, whether they're mobile and independent, walkers, powered wheelchairs.

We can get them out of their chair and get them in body weight harnesses to be able to walk and do those activities that they aren't able to do on their own.

- Awesome.

As we're wrapping up here, how can people continue to learn more and just get in touch with you all?

- So we just have a new website that is out- - It's lovely.

(chuckles) - That just came out this Thursday.

It is ChooseEA.org, or they can give us a call, which will be on our website, and just come in for a free tour, just stop by.

We're happy to give you a tour of our gym and our client space, and then answer any questions you may have.

- Wonderful, thank you so much for joining us today, Lori.

- Yes, thank you for having me.

(lively music) - Hello, once again.

This is Michael Wojcik with your "R-Town Rundown."

This is gonna be our final rundown for a little while.

So as is tradition, I'm gonna highlight a number of activities going on over the holiday season in our community.

First up, "The Polar Express" is being put on by the Rochester Dance Ensemble, and that's gonna be at Rochester Civic Theater from November 16th to the 19th.

All four of our high schools have performing arts programs.

They all put on plays typically this time of the year.

And Mayo High School will be doing "A High School Musical, the Disney Version," and that's going to be from November 16th to 19th too, and I highlight that one 'cause it's highly likely it's gonna sell out, and you'd be amazed at the quality that these kids across our community are delivering in the arts.

Also going on, Festival of Trees.

This used to be at Mayo Civic Center, now it's at The Kahler Grand Hotel.

That's gonna be from November 24th through the 26th.

Not necessarily holiday-themed, but Dessa is cool, and Dessa's gonna be back at the Chateau Theater on November 17th, performing with Lady Midnight.

Also, just a few days later at the historic Chateau Theater, Eleanor Sievers, a local 16-year-old, will be having an album release celebration.

That'll be going on from five to seven p.m.

If you're looking for a gift on December 1st and 2nd, the Rochester Public Library will be putting on a quality book and baked good sales.

Wrapping is free, and donations go to the Rochester Public Library.

"A Christmas Carol, the Musical" will be going on at the Rochester Civic Theater from December 7th to the 23rd.

And at the same time, at the Rochester Repertory Theater, they will have "Winter Wonderland" from November 24th to December 10th.

For those of you that like Rochester City Council meetings, you may also enjoy WWE wrestling on December 17th at the Mayo Civic Center.

And one of the regional highlights this time of the year is the Mayowood Christmas Tours.

You can get tickets for that at Olmsted History Center, and those are gonna be $25 for adults, 10 for kids.

It's an incredible opportunity.

If you're local and you've never done it, you really should.

Visitors love it, and locals should too.

This has been Michael Wojkic, wishing you a joyous holiday season.

(relaxing music) - This is Danielle Teal with "R-Time Walkabout."

We're at the Mayo Civic Center, checking out Feast, where there are local food and produce vendors.

- This is our 10th anniversary.

We've been doing the show right here in Rochester all of those years, and just super excited.

Over 400 businesses have come through our doors- - [Danielle] Wow.

- [Brett] Over the years, and some of them are BFFs, they've been here since day one, and some are brand new.

- So what is the intent behind this event?

- A multitude of purposes for this event.

One is to simply raise awareness of the local food sector, particularly here in our part of the state.

Another is to educate people about the importance of local foods.

Most of the produce that is grown in this area is grown in an organic or a sustainable agricultural way.

And most of it on smaller plots of land, where, you know, on a small plot of land, people are turning it into a business that actually can support the families.

So we think that's exciting.

It's also a way of giving exposure to the exhibitors that come to this event.

Every year, we have 80, 90 exhibitors every year, covering everything from sauces and syrups to cheeses and meats and beverage products, you name it.

And then some networking.

- Perfect example, we were walking by Sailor Mercy, they make elderberry syrups, and right across the aisle from them is Blue Fruit Farm, and they are now sourcing elderberries from Blue Fruit Farm.

And then right behind them is The Bee Shed, and they're sourcing honey from The Bee Shed, which is a Rochester-based company.

So they start to kind of stack on each other.

And that's the real secret to this local Feast.

- [Cook] I'm gonna call that done.

- Someone at the registration desk told me that they were just kind of doing a random survey of people coming in the door.

Like 70% of these people come here every year.

I mean, this is on their calendar, and we love that.

So I'm passionate about it because it's a piece of our local economy that has a lot of growth potential, and we're proud to be a small part of helping local foods grow and prosper here in Southern Minnesota.

- Thank you.

- Awesome, thank you so much.

This is Danielle Teal with "R-Town Walkabout."

(lively music) - The county recently launched a new pasteurized donor human milk program for breastfeeding and chestfeeding families.

Here to let us know more about this program is Candace Hample, a public health nurse from Olmsted County Public Health Services.

Welcome to "R-Town," Candace.

- Thank you so much, it's a pleasure to be here.

- Before we get started with details of the program, I'd love to just get some definitions.

Can you tell us what it means to be breastfeeding or chestfeeding, and also what it means to be exclusively breastfeeding?

- So breastfeeding, you know, would be the term we would use for a mom or a parent that is providing breast milk for their baby directly.

But we wanna be inclusive, so not everyone is comfortable with the terms breast or breastfeeding.

So, therefore, the term chest or chestfeeding comes into play 'cause, again, 'cause we wanna be inclusive of everyone.

- Great, and exclusively breastfed, what does that mean?

- So providing human milk exclusively to their baby versus maybe supplementing with formula, let's say.

- Great, and what are some of the benefits that come along with breastfeeding in terms of the nutritional sort of value that provides for an infant?

- Yeah, so there are many health benefits to breast milk, both in terms of providing the nutrition that matches the baby's needs, but also health benefits that are, you know, short-term benefits, but also long-lasting benefits, you know, such as lower risk for illness, respiratory illness, ear infections, long-term benefits for babies, you know, just to name a couple, lower risk of obesity and diabetes, but these benefits also are for the mother as well.

So lowering risk of breast cancers, ovarian cancers, diabetes, and so forth, so there's a multitude of benefits.

- Of course.

Yeah, I know, when I was first a mom, there were so many benefits that I was told about breast milk, but then I also realized the reality of there not being, there being challenges to being able to produce and provide that.

So can you tell us about this donor milk program, and what it's seeking to address?

- Yeah, so, you know, our hope is to offer support and options for moms that are, their goal is to provide breast milk exclusively for their baby versus, you know, needing to, you know, turn to perhaps like formula in the event that that would be needed.

- Can you walk us through just the logistics of the donor program?

Where is the milk coming from, and how can families access it?

- Yeah, great question.

So we are working, we were given a grant from the Minnesota Statewide Health Improvement Partnership and the Minnesota Milk Bank for Babies.

The milk comes from the Minnesota Milk Bank for Babies.

They have a process of, you know, screening moms that are wanting to donate milk.

It's a questionnaire, it's blood work, and then they, you know, pool it, pasteurize it, and then it gets shipped out to the community.

So we would receive that milk from them, that would be pasteurized, frozen, it comes to us frozen, and then we, again, store it frozen until we're ready to distribute it.

- Okay, fantastic.

One of the safety measures, of course, as part of this process, in terms of storing is freezing it and also pasteurizing it.

- Yeah.

- What would you say to families that are wondering if the nutritional content is all there when it's being pasteurized?

- Yeah, so the nutritional content is, for the most part, preserved.

The pathogens would be eliminated during that pasteurization process.

There are some, you know, so again, during that process, some things are killed off, especially those pathogens, but it's still retained.

- And that's like viruses and bacteria's harmful.

- Viruses, bacteria that would be be harmful for baby, but would still keep some of those immunological properties that would be beneficial for babies as well.

- So how do families find out about this program, and how do they access the donation?

- For the bridge bags?

- For the bridge bags, yeah.

- To receive it, yes.

Our pilot program, we're focusing right now on WIC participants and parents that are participating in the Healthy Children and Families program.

So if they want, you know, are interested or they, you know, they're working toward that exclusivity of breastfeeding or chestfeeding their babies, and maybe need some extra resources or these bridge bags while they can continue to work toward that, they can contact Public Health, the WIC program, or Public Health and Healthy Children and Families.

You know, we also have staff that are trained.

We have peer counselors, we have certified lactation counselors and we have IBCLCs, so to help also in helping mom to increase her supply while she's using these bridge bags so that she can, yeah, provide that milk.

- Exactly, so continuing to, so having the bridge bag, that's the term, the bridge bag, the bridge bag, but also these resources and services and people to continue to support through that process.

- Yes.

- Wonderful, thank you so much for joining us, Candace, and thank you for all you do at Public Health.

- Thank you for having me.

- Thank you for joining us today.

I hope you forgive my voice.

I am battling a cold, (chuckles) and I hope you learned as much as I did today about all that's going on in our city and the wonderful people making it happen.

For more great content produced right here in Rochester, please be sure to check us out on Facebook and Twitter at "R-Town" at #RTown.

I'm Nicole Nfonoyim-Hara, host of "R-Town, the show about Rochester," and I will see you next week.

(bright music) (moves to lively music) (lively music continues) (lively music continues) (bright music) - [Announcer] Funding for this program is provided in part by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.